Its been around 4 months since I have been working in India and everyone asks me this one question “How does it feel to work here?”. Everytime I reply in a very polite way, “feels alright and not too bad.” But seriously working in India sucks. You have 10 people to bring you down for every positive step you take. The title or designation means everything here, even though that person may not be knowing jack shit about the topic. Also usually people take their titles to their heads and can get really arrogant. There is bureaucracy at every single level. There is lack of transparency in how things get done and they take forever to get done. You ask for something and it usually takes 3-4 days to get done, when the same thing can be done in a day in the US.
A lot of importance is given to the number of hours you put in the office. So if I am working 9 hours a day and my colleague works 12 hours a day, then he is more hardworking than I am, even though we achieve the same targets. I personally believe that efficiency takes a back seat here. The attitude is like yea, we will put in more hours later and get it done. If you actually work your shift and leave at the end of it, people actually look at you as if you have committed the biggest sin of your life. The quality of personal life here also sucks. Some offices here work for 7 days a week. Now, tell me where does that leave time for spending with family etc? The sad part is the supply of labor here is abundant and cheap, so most of the people here have no choice but to suck it up and work. Now, though with the advent of IT companies, the work week here is now a 5-day affair for most IT employees.
The other part I hate the most is, whenever there is a client visit. It seems like we go down on all floors just to please them. People who have done nothing on the project will be there to show that look we have made this sucessful. The entire office gets revamped when the client visits and the employees are asked to dress in their best. I have never seen anything like this happening in the US. It just makes me feel like for 150 years we were ruled by the British and now we are ruled by Americans.
The other thing I have observed is people here lack puntuality. I am very serious about this. I have never been late for any meeting in my professional life, be it US or India. Here if we have a meeting at 1pm, people walk in at 1:15 – 1:20pm, as if other person’s time has no value. It can get really annoying to wait.
So yea.. this is what I really feel about working in India. I could be wrong.. but this is what I feel.
My thoughts...My story 
Not all people are like they way you mentioned…..In my office no one carries their designation in their head….WOrking hours….well efficiency is more importatnt than the no. of hours…and work never ceases….SO yes you have to put in extra hours……to please the client….and complete your work…..dressing sense hmm agreed…this has been imbibed since our school time…….we have an inspection and we were asked 2 dress neat…..Punctuality….yes here I agree with you…..yahaan specifically u have mentioned profesional visits….personal visits main to late hota hai naa?? Dont say a no..I have proof…..
Geeta,How can you expect someone who sleeps at 3:30am and wake up at 6:30am to meet you. 😛 :P, fir I woke up.. and was just 30 mins late. So thats fine. :P:P
Agreed..when I got back, it was the same man. The lack of professionalism put me off so bad. Prev job,boss used to do exc the same thing.I wd fix meetings,and bashturd wd be get so late and I would grovel and apologise like mad. Atleast with this job, hazaar better environment man and none of this shit. Usual office nonsense but none of this unprofessionalism crap!
I agree with most of the stuff u’ve mentioned…Def alot of importance is given to the no of hours one spends in office…work or no work…u shud be in front of ur workstation…n pretend busy all day long(12 hrs,maybe more)….Yes ppl def love designations….n love to get arrogant as they climb up the hierarchy….Labour is cheap & in available in huge number…ppl are ready to work in shifts,7 days a week…yes u read it right…7 days a week….But the quality of labour is def deteriorating….infact with soo many pvt colleges coming up…getting a professional degree is the most easiest thing…& with the increase in the number of jobs..there youngsters get a starting salary of 2.5+ which is v good compared to what freshers used to get some 3-4 yrs back….the paying power of ppl has increased like anything over the last 5-6 years…good for the country’s economy….LOL@the client visit thingie…thats true..have seen that happening….yes we are being ruled by the Americans…but to some extent its good..getting more jobs & money in the country….All the above is based on the IT exp…Don’t know how long this will last…someday the Industry is gonna come crashing down….
Well its not always the case. Maybe you are talking just about one sector of US, try visiting their government organizations. Why are there any back logs if everything is prompt n proper. Each culture has its own way of functioning. For instance a country like Japan would think that the American style of working is exteremly slow and they need to speed up the process. Or imagine dealing in an Arabic culture where meetings are delayed for hours…even I would not be able to keep my cool then. Sucking up upto some extent is needed, cause nothing works better than the relational power with your employer. Some cultures have it more so than others. Arriving at meetings on time is something you value, but they don’t. They would be thinking that you have no better work rather than just showing up. I would just say that instead of comparing, it would be a good idea to try to put yourself in their place. With the growth of the mutinational organizations, imagine the frustration that other people might have to face. American way is not the right way, it is just dominant that’s why is thought to be the right way. Also I guess we know the family values in each culture, don’t need to emphasize that. Just wanted to give you something to ponder upon.
I have worked for 1yr in Sri Lanka for a large organisation. And now I have been working in Aus for a while. So I can really compare.Working in SL suxx too. Cos most ppl there dun value ur ideas. They value the job title.Ur spot on!Keshi.
Happy Diwali Akshay!Keshi.
You must be in Mumbai now…Wishing you and your family a very Happy Diwali !!!!
Vodka earlier now white wine…Wishing you a Happy Diwali dude!